Chapter 432

Cui Yan raised his head violently, his eyes filled with unbelievable ecstasy.

"Death penalty is avoided, but living penalty is hard to escape!"

Without waiting for Cui Yan to speak, Wei Wenlie continued, "From today on, you are punished to close your doors and reflect on your mistakes at home! Without this King's decree, you are not allowed to step out of the residence gate for half a step!

Your Cui family descendants, those serving in the military or the court, will all be demoted and retained, and will have to make up for their crimes with merit! If there is another mistake, all crimes will be punished together, and I will definitely behead you without mercy!"

"Thank... thank Your Highness for not killing me! Thank Your Highness for your great grace!"

Cui Yan was streaming with tears, kowtowing repeatedly.

Wei Wenlie moved his gaze away with disgust, no longer looking at him, and turned to Murong Ke and the other two: "Murong Ke, Tufa Yan, Helian Bobo! You lost the army and humiliated the country; you should have been executed to warn others!

Considering your past merits and the fact that you are seriously injured, I will temporarily keep your heads! Temporarily stay in the camp to serve, and I will observe your future performance! If you cannot make up for your crimes with merit, bring your heads to see me!"

"Thank Your Highness for not killing us!" The three felt as if they had been granted amnesty, endured their injuries, and kowtowed heavily.

After disposing of the defeated generals, Wei Wenlie took a deep breath, his gaze falling on Si Wushuang: "Military Advisor!"

"This minister is here!" Si Wushuang bowed.

"The matter of Guanzhong, you take full charge! Investigate for this King! Thoroughly investigate! How did Luo Feng know our army's movements? Is Fu Qingshuang truly defecting or falsely defecting? To what extent have Wang Hou's secret pillars infiltrated? And..."

A cold light flashed in his eyes. "Watch Cui Yan closely for this King! Closing doors to reflect? Hmph! This King wants to see what kind of door he is closing and what kind of mistakes he is reflecting on!"

Wei Wenlie was not stupid; besides hard power, the most important thing in war was the information gap.

He could lose, but he could not lose without knowing why; at the very least, he had to know where he lost.

That's right, he even suspected... that there were people from the Bright Army in his own team!!

"This minister, obeys the decree!" Si Wushuang responded sternly.

"Order all armies!"

Wei Wenlie's voice rose. "Shrink the defense line! Guard the passes of Tongguan, Wuguan, and Lantian strictly!

Without this King's military order, no one is allowed to attack without authorization! Bright Army... this blood debt, this King has recorded it!

Jiang Jinshi! Luo Feng! You wait for this King! Today's shame, I will definitely repay it with a hundred times the blood in the future!"

The victory report of the great victory in Chang'an immediately spread throughout the world, and for a time the world was shaken; before, Western Liang's defeat could still be said to be the Bright Army seizing the first opportunity, but now they had been defeated twice... that was the gap in strength.

There were not a few people who had such thoughts, and even the fence-sitters in Luoyang and Jiangnan had begun to sway, their hearts no longer firm on Western Liang.

If it weren't for the fact that the Beijiang new policies were too harsh for them, they would have already defected!

After all, the war report clearly wrote that in the three-way ambush, about thirty thousand enemies were annihilated, Murong Ke was defeated, and Tufa Yan and Helian Bobo were heavily damaged.

It also uprooted the inside contact network of Western Liang in Guanzhong.

Especially the naming of the Beijiang genealogies was even more chilling; the six great clans of Guanzhong were slaughtered, and even the branches far away in Xuzhou and other places did not escape; as long as there was a name on the genealogy, then kill without mercy!

The name of Huang Yan, the killing embryo, also became famous throughout the world, and many families changed color upon hearing it!

The effect of doing this was also significant; now the order under Beijiang was orderly, and the large and small families were trembling, not daring to act rashly at all.

Beijiang new policies? Support, must vigorously support!

We are determined not to be maggots, and everyone has a responsibility to maintain Beijiang order!

Even if the Cui family was a famous family, now no one dared to listen to his words anymore; after all, you are safe and sound under the King of Western Liang, but we are under the Bright Army, and that is going to be beheaded!

Western Liang was also not prepared to use the previous alienation scheme for the time being; instead, under Si Wushuang's command, they began to shrink and defend, and their fighting style was not as aggressive as before.

And Beijiang side, because of the great victory, was happy for a while, and after cleaning up the petty thieves within the territory, they were prepared to continue to deal with Western Liang.

At this moment, inside the council hall of the Shuoning Bright King's Mansion, the atmosphere was very heavy.

Jiang Jinshi sat in the main seat, and on the huge sand table in front of him, the black small flags representing the Western Liang army had all shrunk to the line of Tongguan, Wuguan, and Lantian.

Although Western Liang had suffered heavy losses this time, they were still eyeing them covetously.

Sitting on both sides were core civil and military officials such as Wang Hou, Han Xiao, Bai Ting, Zhang Honghong, Luo Feng, and Jiang Ze, and no one on their faces saw the slightest pride, only contemplation of the current situation.

"Western Liang is defeated, but its muscles and bones are not broken."

Jiang Jinshi spoke first, and at the same time, his fingers swept across the defense line formed by Tongguan, Wuguan, and Lantian on the sand table. "Wei Wenlie suffered a big loss and immediately shrank back, putting on an iron bucket formation. He is licking his wounds, and also waiting for us to make mistakes."

His gaze swept over the generals: "In the battle of Chang'an, we won by anticipating the enemy, and we won by the soldiers fighting with their lives. But everyone, do not be blinded by victory. Western Liang's main force still exists, and Si Wushuang is still planning in Luoyang.

They shrink the defense line, seemingly passive, but in fact, they are accumulating strength, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack, or... luring us to take the initiative to attack and step into the battlefield they have preset."

Zhang Honghong had the most urgent temper, and upon hearing this, she couldn't help but say: "My Lord! Western Liang is newly defeated, morale is low, this is the perfect opportunity for us to pursue the victory and take Tongguan or Wuguan in one go! If we wait for them to recover, relying on the passes to defend, it will be difficult to chew down these hard bones!"

The fighting spirit of wanting to try flashed in her eyes; the battle on the Shangluo mountain road made her feel that Western Liang was nothing more than this.

Han Xiao immediately shook his head, his voice steady: "General Zhang, we must not be too hasty. Tongguan is a natural danger, one man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot open it. Although Murong Ke was defeated by our army, he is definitely not a mediocre person, and Tongguan's city defense is solid, with sufficient grain and grass.

If our army attacks strongly, the casualties will be huge, and even if we take it, we will be severely injured. Wuguan is also the same, the mountain road is rugged, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Western Liang shrinking the defense line is exactly to exert its geographical advantage and wait for work with ease."

Bai Ting took over the conversation: "General Han's words are very true. Although Western Liang was defeated this time, its main force has not been hurt in muscles and bones. Tufa Yan and Helian Bobo's remnants have retreated to Lantian and Shangluo, relying on mountain dangers to reorganize. If our army presses the whole line rashly, the logistics pressure will be huge, and it will be very easy to be resisted step by step by relying on the passes, consuming our army's sharp spirit.

Once we cannot take it for a long time, the master is old and the soldiers are tired, and Western Liang transfers troops from Luoyang or other directions to counterattack, the situation will be dangerous."

He had seen the fierceness of the Western Liang cavalry on the Chencang Ancient Road and knew its resilience.

Luo Feng's brow locked tight, his fingers tapping the armrest of the chair unconsciously: "Western Liang is learning the method we used to deal with Da Qian back then, digging deep trenches and building high walls to drag us down.

They know that we have just obtained Guanzhong, the foundation is not stable, the implementation of new policies is constrained everywhere, and the transportation of grain and grass is difficult. The longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it is for us."

He sat in Chang'an and felt the complex situation of the newly attached land of Guanzhong most deeply.

Wang Hou spoke at the right time: "My Lord, generals. According to the latest secret report, after Western Liang retreated, although Wei Wenlie was furious, he was persuaded by Si Wushuang.

Si Wushuang is doing three things! First, strictly order all departments to defend the passes to the death, no one is allowed to attack without orders, and those who disobey will be beheaded!

Second, step up the transfer of grain and military equipment from Bashu and Jingxiang, not even hesitating to increase exploitation, and fully supplement the defense lines of Tongguan, Wuguan, and Lantian!

Third, secretly order Cui Yan and others to use the remaining secret lines to spread rumors in Guanzhong, slander the new policies, sow discord, especially targeting General Luo Feng, trying to create the illusion of instability within our army and shake our military and people's hearts."